My View: More questions as NIDA seeks Stephenson County money

Friday

Nov 8, 2013 at 3:00 PM

Dear Messrs Hadley and Mikkelsen,

Since last December (and for years prior to that, in Mr. Mikkelsen’s case), you gentlemen have represented Stephenson County on the board of the Northwest Illinois Development Alliance. Though I and some of my colleagues believe it’s a plain conflict of interest for you to sit on a board that can award tax money to an organization and also sit on a board that decides how the organization will acquire and spend money, you’ve said you will remain there as our representatives. It’s in this capacity that I call on you today, because the interests of the county and its taxpayers need energetic representation.

NIDA has requested we place $50,000 for it in our 2014 budget. As I pointed out in my previous column, the timing couldn’t be worse, as there are simply no funds available. So I was surprised to hear that Mr. Hadley had argued in favor of this budget request at Monday’s Planning & Development meeting and even argued that being against it was the same as being against economic development itself.

After all, Mr. Hadley, on Nov. 2, 2012, you wrote the following in a letter to the J-S:

“I believe NIDA is a fine organization, but at this time, should only be funded in the form of a commission from the county when the agency brings in a new business to the area. I don’t believe the county should be financing a private organization to the tune of $100,000 per year, when the county has budget problems of its own. It is very simple.”

Simple indeed, as was the pledge you signed to “Prioritize funding for Public Safety above funding worthwhile non-government entities.”

I think both of you would agree that when an agency is “the only game in town,” accountability for performance and proper use of funds becomes more important, not less. As our representatives, we need you to answer or get answers to some questions about those issues.

Let’s begin with a performance issue, specifically the two NIDA websites that were supposed to promote the region but displayed a cartoon penguin for six weeks.

What was the process to select the website contractor? How much were they paid for the project?

It would have been feasible to leave the current website up while building the new one. It would also have been feasible to build the website on one domain while leaving the other accessible. Why was the decision made to put up a penguin graphic instead of a functioning website? Who made this decision?

What caused the six-week breakdown? What actions did NIDA take to resolve the issues? What accountability actions were taken after they were resolved?

In the ensuing year, what are web traffic statistics for the site? Specifically, what are the counts of unique visitors and page views? What is the bounce rate? What were the page views and bounce rate during the six weeks the website was displaying a penguin?

Have any projects, potential or otherwise, resulted from site selectors visiting the website? If so, will those site selectors vouch for this?

Now, a few questions about the current budget request:

In his request, Mr. Young states he is submitting it on behalf of “the Board and members of NIDA.” Did the NIDA board formally vote to make this request? If so, how did you two gentlemen vote? When the vote was held, were you aware of the impending six-figure deficit in the county’s general fund?

Lastly, I’d like you, especially “The Taxpayer’s Watchdog,” to address some crucial questions that have hung in the air for 710 days. On Nov. 30, 2011, Robert Nickels, a NIDA volunteer, expressed his support for giving the organization $100,000, but also mentioned they had been throwing money down a hole prior to Mr. Young’s arrival.

What did Mr. Nickels mean exactly by pouring money down a hole?

Was his assessment correct?

Did he report his concerns to anyone in their capacities as members of the NIDA board or in their capacities as government officials?

If so, what, if anything did they do about it?

I look forward to your answers, and I’m sure the taxpayers of our county do as well.

Christopher Clukey represents District F on the Stephenson County Board. He can be reached at chrisclukey@comcast.net.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.